Wednesday, May 23, 2012

ALEC’s Legislative Agenda on Education

On
American Legislative Exchange Council task forces, corporate lobbyists and
special interests vote as equals with elected representatives on templates to
change our laws, behind closed doors with no press or public allowed to see the
votes or deliberations. ALEC’s education legislation diverts taxpayers’ money
from American public school children to for-profit education corporations, strips
away the rights of teachers and their ability to negotiate strongly for small
class sizes and other practices that help children learn better, and gives more
tax breaks to rich corporations and individuals to pay private school tuition,
among other things that undermine America’s proud tradition of investing in our
future through investing in excellent public education for all of America’s
children. ALEC’s education task force has long been chaired by a private school
corporation.

Funding Private Schools and Private Profits with the Public’s Money

·ALEC’s
“Family Education Tax Credit Program” creates a tax credit for paying
private primary or secondary school tuition and fees. It would also create a tax
credit for corporations and individuals that give money to be used as
“scholarships” to pay tuition and fees at private schools. This also reduces
tax revenue for public services.

·ALEC’s
“Parent Choice Scholarship Program
Act-Universal Eligibility”
creates a voucher program to use taxpayer funds that would be spent on public
schools to subsidize private for-profit, religious, or other primary and
secondary schools. This program has no income limit for subsid and therefore
all students would be eligible.

·ALEC’s
“Education Accountability Act” allows a state to override the
elected school board, declare schools “educationally bankrupt,” and divert
funds to private schools.

Tipping the Scales in Favor of Charter Schools Over Public School
Innovations

·ALEC’s
“Charter Schools Act” would allow the state to grant
charters to create and operate schools outside of traditional public schools, while
also exempting these charter schools from state laws that apply to public
schools.

·ALEC’s
“Next Generation Charter Schools Act” allows state taxpayers to subsidize
charter schools that compete with public schools, while exempting charter
schools from complying with many legal standards and requirements that govern public
schools.

·ALEC’s
“Virtual Public Schools Act” requires virtual or online education
company courses to be recognized as public schools and require that such
companies receive the same per pupil funding as traditional schools that
provide classrooms, sports training facilities, lunch, and transportation,
resulting in windfall profits for online “schools.”

·ALEC’s
“Parent Trigger Act” would allow a small group of parents to close public school
for current and future students, and turn the school into a charter school or
require the state to use taxpayer dollars for vouchers to subsidize private
tuition.

·ALEC’s
“Resolution Supporting the Principles of
No Child Left Behind”
supports the Bush Administration’s controversial effort ofusing expanded testing of limited
subjects as a way to claim public schools are failing and also to effectively limit
the teaching of important life skills and other educationally enriching topics
not subject to testing.

·ALEC’s
“Common Sense in Medicating Students Act” prohibits any school personnel from even
recommending medication for any troubled child to parents, even if the school
has experts on staff experienced in making such non-binding recommendations.

Attacking Teachers and Undermining the Power to Negotiate to Help
Students

·ALEC’s
“Great Teachers and Leaders Act” changes tenure rules for teachers and
allows tenure to be revoked based on limited measures of success without regard
to underlying conditions in the schools or environment.

·ALEC’s
“Alternative Certification Act” attempts to allow students to be
taught by people who have no training in how to teach children and the
different ways kids learn at various ages and based on different learning
styles. This paves the way for for-profit schools to pay “teachers” less than
educators who are actually trained in teaching.